Blake agreed to take me on as his apprentice in September 2009 for a 6 month period. I had come from a corporate background and in light of undertaking this career change to personal training we collectively decided the focus of my development would need to be technical and practical rather than commercial. Six months later I can look back retrospectively and realize how far I have come under Blake’s tutelage. I have found my niche in catering for sports specific clients and golf in particular. Blake offered me support, encouragement and guidance in pursuing this goal through some 1:1 training as well as suggesting wider reading and recommendations of external industry leaders where I could seek additional development. I consider myself to have a strong command of the fundamentals for personal training including strength training and muscle gain, fat loss, core conditioning, posture and injury rehabilitation. A big part of my personal journey came from experiencing my own rehab from a long standing injury to my knee. Through Blake’s structured programming I am now delighted to be playing soccer and squash again to a level I never thought possible of returning to. I have already confidently prescribed similar exercises for my rehab clients and guided them through to a full recovery from their injuries as well as achieving great results with weight loss and muscle gain clients. I have also embraced Blake’s philosophy regarding holistic health; whilst my specializations lie elsewhere, I am delighted that I am now in a position to provide guidance and counsel to my clients in areas such as sleep, stress, nutrition and digestive health. I consider this apprenticeship vehicle to have been an accelerated learning platform that has provided me with an excellent springboard to surpass the competency levels of my peers of similar experience levels. I can honestly say that the learning and development I have gained from this experience has exceeded my expectations and catapulted me to a level I had not expected to reach by this juncture. I wholeheartedly recommend this approach to any trainer seeking to gain a competitive edge over their peers and fast track their technical skills.

Alex Hinchcliffe

I first met Blake when I had decided it was time to join a gym and employ the services of a personal trainer to get my neglected body into shape after many years of seriously stressful and exhausting work within my own business while raising a family. I was a supermum and had suffered the consequences.

The original intention was simply to achieve weight loss and create body tone.

I didn't realise how this introduction would eventually turn my thinking around towards health and fitness.

I was struggling with high cholesterol levels at the time and my GP had prescribed the usual medication. I noticed soreness across my shoulders and arms and googled my medication for information. The information was frightening and I reported the side effects to my GP who immediately gave me another brand to try. The same results occurred and I threw them in the
rubbish bin. I found a new practitioner who had a philosophy to find the cause instead of treating the symptom. His advice was to forget about cholesterol medication and continue with fitness programme in earnest. Shortly after my cholesterol levels were within the normal range and remain so.

I was introduced to metabolic typing around this time and diet changes were implemented. I had been experiencing periods of low energy and had plateaued with the weight loss. I might add that during this time had been struggling with an underactive thyroid and consequently more medication. We kept increasing the intensity of the fitness programme and as the body and thyroid improved I was able to decrease the level of medication. This trend has continued.

My latest hiccup in life is with blood sugar levels. The metabolic typing has been a huge help with my diet in balancing sugar levels. I now consume a higher percentage of protein due to recommendations and can't believe how it has improved my general well-being, strength and endurance abilities. No drugs necessary due to good advice and training.

I have also experienced a vast improvement in sleeping patterns.

Good health and fitness requires effort and a positive attitude. This has been helped by the skills of Blake. He organises the programme and I simply turn up and follow instructions. Results don't happen by wishing for them. You have to do the hard work and when a plateau or some other obstacle presents itself I rely on Blake to adjust my programmer to beat it.

My husband and I travel extensively both in Australia and overseas. We travel for fun and enjoyment and being fit and healthy enables us to do this.

Having goals helps with the motivation to continue with the intensity at the gym.

Thanks Blake for all your professional help. You probably don't realize how much quality of life you provide to your clients.

Marg T- Property Manager

Seven months I was given the opportunity to make a real change in life that would affect my health, wellbeing, productivity and self-esteem. When I first met with Blake I was immediately put at ease despite my low self-confidence, obvious weight gain and low fitness levels. I was reassured that together we could put into place a program that would deliver results and revitalise my outlook on life and on my body.

After a rigorous health assessment, Blake began to put into place practical steps that I could do in order to achieve short-term goals as well as working towards long-term milestones. In the beginning, I didn’t enjoy attending my sessions with Blake as I was shocked at my low fitness levels yet Blake’s patience, encouragement and motivating words kept me coming back twice week religiously. Small things such as an inspiring text message each or making himself available to answer questions meant that I never felt as though his commitment to his client only occurs during the face-to-face sessions, rather it is a long-term, dedicated commitment to helping me reach my full potential.

After the first month I was amazed at my results! Having a monthly assessment means I am accountable to meeting my goals and am also able to track my health, fitness and self-esteem progress from day one. I never dreamt that in just seven months I would have lost over 10 kilos, dropped two dress sizes and seen my fitness and health levels improve dramatically. Previously I was barely able to walk at 5km p/h and I am now running at 11km p/h! Friends and family have been so supportive and encouraging and find it hard to believe that this happy, confident, healthy, motivated young woman is the same unhappy, unfit, overweight and unmotivated woman from April.

Blake has truly made an immense difference in my life. I now look forward to my sessions with my Blake and want to continue working hard to achieve my goals both long-term and short-term. My outlook on life has changed and I now feel empowered to accomplish bigger and better things thanks to Blake and Raw Solutions.

Nicole R, PR- Stellar

I had been going to the gym for nearly 2 years without any real progress and began to start losing all motivation to go. I had tried a few personal trainers but with little success. So I decided that I needed a new approach to my training and began to research different trainers and their methods.

I've been training with Blake for just over a year now and the improvements in both my physique, my health and my general wellbeing has been incredible. As opposed to just being a personal trainer, Blake has thought me about technique, diet, recovery and continues to educate me on all aspects of my wellbeing.

My attitude to training has changed greatly and Blake continues to motivate and push me to reach my goals.

Ciaran Durney - Associate Director of Rice Daubney